Rice tabs VCU assistant Rhoades as coach

Rice will formally introduce Rhoades at a press conference on Thursday.

Rhoades has spent the past five season on Shaka Smart's staff at VCU, helping
the Rams reach the last four NCAA Tournaments. The Rams were upset by No. 12
seed Stephen F. Austin last Friday in overtime.

"Rice has made a phenomenal hire in Mike Rhoades," Smart said. "He's a
tremendous person, a tireless worker and an inspiring leader. Over the past
five years, Mike has been instrumental to our success and played a key role in
literally every facet of our program. While it is sad to see him go, I am so
excited for Mike and his family to be joining the Rice community. Great days
are ahead."

Prior to his stint at VCU, Rhoades coached Division III Randolph-Macon for 10
seasons, going 197-76 and making four NCAA Tournament appearances.

He takes over for Braun, who resigned March 13 after six seasons as coach of
the Owls.

Braun's teams had a losing record five times. The longtime college coach went
63-128 at Rice and led the 2011-12 team to a berth in the quarterfinals of the
CollegeInsider.com tournament.